Author Archives: Terry Butler

February News

February 21, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

Spring Break Update – Programs are Set!

Superior Storm – Mike Chrun

I’ve been helping out with the Spring Break event this year that will be held on March 30. All the programs have been set and it looks like a great line-up, so if you have been waiting to register to see what will be offered now would be a great time to register. Two of the programs at Spring Break will also be presented at our club meetings this year. Michelle Terrell will be presenting her program “On Being a Birding Bird Photographer” on March 6 and Mike Chrun will present his program on “North Shore Winter Photography” later this year. Our own Carl Wegener will also be making a presentation on his Recycle Your Camera for Kids project. You can download the day’s schedule here and speaker bios and detailed program descriptions here. More details and registration link are on the Spring Break page.

2019 Interclub Judging

On Saturday, February 16, we arranged for the judging of all the digital entries for the 2019 Interclub Competition. 960 images were judged over a 5-hour period. Our three judges were Alec Johnson, Layne Kennedy and Mike Shaw. Though time did not allow for comments on all the images, there were some interesting discussions when it came to selecting the award winners. Thanks to Steve Cole, Mary Johnson, Sarah Nieminen, Becky VanDyk, and Jane Neumiller-Bustad for helping out. A special thanks goes to Melissa Anderson who made sure we had coffee and tea in the morning and lunch when we took a break.

Posted in Competition, Educational, Meeting Summary, News

The Meeting Tomorrow Night is Cancelled!

February 19, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

A winter storm warning will be in effect from 3 am to 9 pm on Wednesday and the hazardous condition will likely impact both the morning and evening commutes. Mike Waterman’s presentation on Photography and the Law scheduled for Wednesday, February 20, will be rescheduled.

Posted in Club Meeting Info

Coming Up!

February 13, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

Photography and the Law

Next Wednesday, February 20, at a special mid-month meeting, our own knowledgeable Michael Waterman will give a presentation about photography and the law. Topics that will be covered include photographers’ rights, access restrictions, rights of privacy, model releases, ownership of images, copyright protections, and more. The meeting will begin at 6:30 pm and as always the meeting is open to the public.

Mike is a longtime member of the club and was president when I joined. People join clubs because they share a common interest. People remain in clubs because they make friends. Mike is one of the reasons that I am celebrating eight years of membership.

Did You Know?

Have you taken some time to look around our award-winning web site? The page that is usually most visited is the calendar page. It is your one stop shop that tells you what will be happening. That page is frequently updated for new speakers.

Posted in Club Meeting Info, Educational

Spring Break Information

January 30, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

I’ve set up a page for just the 2019 Spring Break event. A lot of the programs have been set with more to come within the next two weeks. There should be a schedule for the day at the same time. The Spring Break page will be updated frequently.

Even so, you can register now: https://reg.planetreg.com/E1228192637181688

Posted in Educational

News you need to know

January 29, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

Interclub Competition Deadline is Saturday

These next few cold, blustery days will be a good time to look for some of your best photos to enter the 2019 Interclub Competition. The deadline for entering is this Saturday, February 2, at 5:00 pm. The digital entries are all done by email, but the prints need to be delivered to the drop off site by the same deadline. Bring your prints to the Phipps lobby between 2 and 3 pm on Saturday to get them delivered. Rules and entry forms are here and on the Camera Council website.

February 6 Meeting

Our first meeting in February will feature a club salon. Our salons serve two purposes. Some of our members enjoy the competition aspect where scores reflect their level of skill and progress in improving, and their skill compared to other members. The verbal critique has educational value to both the photographer and to other members. We ask the judge to express what they like about every image and what the photographer might have done to improve. I always submit what I think are real winners, and a judge will help me to see what I’ve missed with an image I have fallen in love with. I learn something at every salon and because the critiques are about real images that real members of our club have submitted, it has more relevance.

Reminders

“Wish upon a Star”, a portfolio image from Pat Chiconis

If you haven’t already paid your 2019 dues, bring a check or cash to the meeting. Dues are $35.00 per year for a single membership and are payable in January every year. Family membership is $35.00 plus $10.00 for each family member living under the same roof.
It’s not too late to commit to a photography goal for 2019. Please use the contact form to make a formal commitment. We will share your achievements at the January 2020 meeting.
Consider putting together a portfolio, a new benefit of membership. These are not intended to be competitive and there are no rules other than the images need to fit a theme. They make a great introduction of your work and interests to other members. There are already 11 member portfolios on our web site. See if you can find them!

Posted in Club Meeting Info, Competition, Member Portfolios, News

Total Lunar Eclipse!

January 17, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

The Moon will be a Super Moon for the total eclipse that will happen on January 21. A Super Moon occurs when the moon is near its closest approach to Earth. It appears 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when the moon is at its farthest distance from earth. The next total eclipse, visible in Hudson, will be in May, 2022, and after that we’ll have to wait until March 2025.

This is the timing for Hudson, Wisconsin

8:36 pm – Penumbral eclipse begins
9:33 pm – Partial eclipse begins
10:41 pm – Total eclipse begins
11:12 pm – Maximum eclipse
11:43 pm – Total eclipse ends
1: 48 am – Penumbral eclipse ends

To see an animation of the eclipse in Hudson and other eclipse information check it out here.

Some of our members have gone out as a group to capture this stunning event. The composite image was taken in September 2015 and shows how it was necessary to adjust the exposure as the night progressed. The other photo was taken at Lakefront Park after totality was achieved as the moon set across the river. This shows how big the moon appears with a 560 mm lens. Unfortunately the moon set over a building that was under construction!

For information on photographing the eclipse, see this article by Alan Dyer.

Posted in Educational, Technical

Game On!

January 12, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

Our January 16th meeting will be devoted to competitions, with help and inspiration from our salon and N4C coordinators and past award winners. We’ll also have special small-group sessions where you can share with other club members some photos you’re considering for competitions or salons this year.

Award-winning images from Betty Bryan, Melissa Anderson and Fred Sobottka

For our program, Mike Waterman will give a short overview of the competition categories. Our submission coordinators, Steve Cole and Ken Wolter will review the rules, including recent updates. Bryan Leonard will demonstrate how to resize photos for submission. Some of our past award winners will tell the stories behind their favorite images and we’ll end the evening with a small-group photo sharing session.

Please bring your photos either as prints or on a laptop or tablet to share!

Posted in Club Meeting Info, Competition

Spring Break and the Interclub Competition

January 10, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

Save the Date for Spring Break!

The Spring Break event will be held Saturday, March 30, 2019! This is an event that area photographers have looked forward to since 1985.

Date: Saturday, March 30, 2019
Place: Mounds View High School, 1900 Lake Valentine Road, Arden Hills, MN 55112
Cost: $45 (includes lunch)
Cost with student ID: $20
Presenter and topic details: will be updated on the Camera Council web site periodically.

REGISTRATION must be made in advance. There is no registration available at the door. https://reg.planetreg.com/E1228192637181688

What’s included: Keynote speaker Craig Blacklock will start the day with a 2-hour program followed by a variety of other speakers and topics to choose from. Lunch, snacks and coffee breaks are included in your registration fee. Numerous vendors will be present, and the Raptor Center will be bringing birds, including a bald eagle, to photograph during the lunch period. The 2019 Interclub awards for individual and club photo competitions will be announced. Though the speaker schedule has not been completed yet, you can depend upon a great lineup.

The 2019 Interclub Competition

Posted in Competition, Educational, News

Making Goals and Member Portfolios

January 5, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

Photography Goals

With a fresh new year ahead, a lot of people set goals. Mine are usually about losing weight or getting more exercise. A lot of my goals fall short because I haven’t really committed to them by telling another person or the goals were not realistic. Setting a realistic, achievable photography goal and sending your goal by using the contact form is a way to be more committed to a goal by telling someone about it in confidence. Then at the January 2020 meeting you can share your achievement with other members. The January meetings that include goals presentations are among the highest rated meetings every year.

Member Portfolios

From Michael Huber’s portfolio

A great new benefit of membership in WWPC is member portfolios. It’s an opportunity to display a body of work that reflects your personal style and photographic interests. It will also serve as an introduction to others in the club. This is not a competition and the only rules for the images is that they fit the theme of your portfolio. For more information about submitting a portfolio, here are the guidelines. Think about it and join in!

Four member portfolios have already been posted on our web site and they are all interesting and inspiring. They are

2018 Was a Very Good Year!

I am looking forward to 2019 but here is a review of 2018 in numbers.

Posted in Member Portfolios, News

Competitions, Rules and Competitions!

January 1, 2019 by Terry Butler | 0 Comments

2018 Year End Awards

2018 Image of the Year – “Tobacco Farmer” by Willie Gorham

Our judge was given 149 digital images and 27 prints from which he needed to select awards. He immediately replied that it was going to be difficult because our images as a body were so strong. Upon completion of the judging he told me “I believe strongly that photography, as any art, is very subjective. On the other hand, there are technical norms and standards in photography that we use to evaluate and experience images. For instance: there is the rule that the main subject of an image should be in focus. Of course, I have seen many fantastic images where the main subject was not in focus. And we as artists are always choosing when and how to break the “rules” of our medium. And I assume everything I see in an image is a choice. (Even things that are beyond our control are a part of the image we choose to present, so they count as a choice). So if you chose to present an image with the main subject out of focus, then (a) that choice needs to make sense within the rest of the context of the image (b) that choice need to add to the overall quality of the image, and (c) you run the risk of that choice distracting the viewer (me, in this case). I use these “rules” as a vocabulary to evaluate an image and identify things I find distracting (or an opportunity missed) in the image. And finally, with a set of images this strong, I often had to fall back on very subjective judgments. I had many personal “favorites” in this collection, and it was difficult to narrow these choices down. Thanks.”

The gallery has been posted here and if I can ever get the slide show uploaded to YouTube, I will let you know. The delay is one of the drawbacks of living in the boondocks!

2019 Salon Rules Changes

The 2019 Salon Rules have been updated. The biggest change is in the description of the Creative and Realistic categories. The Creative category description has been revised to make it stress the fact that all elements must be the work of the entrant. That has been the case for ALL salon images since before I joined the club in 2011. The other change is for Realistic, which we have decided to change to Pictorial because it is more descriptive of what we have always intended it to be. We also removed most of the previous limitations in processing. Basically, Pictorial images should look like a straight photograph, even if it has been manipulated, cloned or added elements from other photographs. The new rules are posted here and there is a link to download the complete rules that include category descriptions and a “quick guide”.